14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation Now open beta will kick off tomorrow for all North American PlayStation 4 owners, and it seems likely that the program will get a flat-rate subscription system sometime in the future.
Sony is looking into offering a subscription fee model for the upcoming game streaming service, in addition to the pricing model currently seen in the beta, most likely following the fact that its rental prices were oftentimes bigger than what it would have cost to actually purchase the games, which, of course, was met with derision.
Many gamers were upset about the ludicrous prices whose only purpose seemed to be gauging just how many people would be willing to pay that much, instead of being a well thought-out model that would deliver customers a quality service, but it seems that not all hope is lost, as Jack Buser, senior director of PlayStation Now, hints that things might get better in the future.
During a recent interview with IGN, Buser mentions that fact that the team is well-aware of the general discontent and that they are looking into providing other pricing options.
"We're working diligently to bring a subscription option to gamers to compliment our rental offering for PlayStation Now. We believe that offering both of these options would provide gamers the freedom to discover and play games in ways that weren't before possible," Buser says.
Although he hasn't offered any hard details regarding when and how such an option would become available, he has assured PlayStation owners that nothing is set in stone.
The pricing model of PlayStation Now rentals is still something that the team is experimenting with, and they will be looking at feedback provided by players throughout the entire beta process in order to see what is the best way to approach this.
He has also suggested that a "rent-to-buy" option is also being considered, but that for now it's simply too early to tell how exactly that will pan out, as the service is just getting off the ground.
In any case, PlayStation Now has been getting a ton of support from publishers, with over 50 companies making a commitment to have their games available on the service. Buser has mentioned that the open beta will debut with a wide array of games for people to choose from, with a number of around 100 games currently available, and more to come over time.
For now, the regular pricing model is the only one in use, but we'll come back with more details as soon as new information becomes available.